Contact

I try to answer all emails, but am sometimes a bit over-whelmed with incoming messages, so apologies if I ever don’t get back to you. As a general rule I can’t get into providing advice on individual benefit claims, I just don’t have time to do it justice.

Below is the long running spam thread, please don’t expect it to make any sense.

Hi – I’ve just launched an anti-bottled water campaign that I think might appeal to your narking off ambitions… You can find us at http://www.wewanttap.com. If you like what you see then please help us get the word out.

Actually it won’t do spammers very much good to get a link from here because you’ve got nofollows on so Google will give linked to sites not credit.

Nonetheless I would have expected a little more creativity!

By the way, any spammers looking for a blog without nofollows, try mine. Yeah go on, just try it if you think you’re hard enough! Or maybe just visit it if you’re after info, opinion and general chit chat about what’s going on in Notting Hill.

Remember the plans to build a “super Pandemic Virus Lab” in Camden?
Camden Council have responded to all the indymedia pandemic postings with….advice pages on “what to do in a Pandemic. PAndemic and the elderly. PAndemic and your baby. Will your business survive a Pandemic. [..as in where are all the staff?]. There is even ” your IT systems in aPandemic form Camden in the USA….”. Glad to see we are getting to them….

That’s quite scary – is there any other info about this or is it just another Indymedia conspiracy theory? Searches on “Super pandemic virus lab” only lead to Indymedia and this page, do you have any more links or is that substantially it?

Speaking of horrible weapons, read my newest short story, “War Without Tears”, it’s all about the war, the basic premise being that the Fourth World War is fought in the country of the mind…

We would like to advise your visiters that the unemployment movement website is open for those who are interested in creating a movement to protect themselves from welfare reforms. Our aim is to create a national movement from the ground up not connected to political parties or organisations, unions or ngo`s.

What we provide are resources to socially network, blog and discuss issues in a forum and are not so arrogant to believe the website is a polished or a finished item and so will be relying on new members ideas and suggestions.

For us claiming any benefit is a Right and not charity; it is enshrined in Law as the right to life. We have nothing to be ashamed of, we are not spongers, we not criminals or deviants, we are unemployed because of the economic incompetence of a few.

Not sure if i’ll be able to attend this one. People please print off this image onto sticker paper and plaster it wherever it will be best seen. Or blow it up big and attach it to placards. You know what to do.

Image uses Lib Dem Yellow, NUS blue (which also happens to be a similar colour to Conservative blue) and Money print in the background.

The following is from a leaflet advertising a “Bank Run” for 26 Jan 2011. Publicity has deliberately been left to a few days before the event. It’s totally uncentralised – no spokespeople or official HQs. Please circulate.

(start)

Fed up with the banks holding the world to ransom? Then hopefully you’ll want to take part in the bank run that’s planned for 26 January, 2011. Protestors are calling it “Revenge Wednesday”.

You can also help build up momentum by using Twitter to send the following tweet. (And if you receive this tweet from someone else, please “retweet” it!)

On Wednesday 26 January 2011, thousands of people in the UK will try to cause a bank run by withdrawing money from their bank accounts, in person, at high street bank branches.

The hope is that the movement will snowball.

Everyone is welcome. Just print out the form below, fill in your details, and take it to your bank, preferably around lunchtime, e.g. about 1pm. Even better, print out multiple copies and hand them round. Use email, Twitter, Facebook too.

When the first bank branch says it won’t pay out people’s money, let everyone know, using every means possible. Take photos. Use mobile phones, send tweets, get the journalists in on the picture. This movement is decentralised. It is what you and we make it.

Note that this idea was tried last December, after being suggested by Eric Cantona. Unfortunately it didn’t go very far, mainly because the organisers asked people to “sign up” online. We’re not asking you to sign up to anything. In particular, you do NOT have to give any personal details to anyone. The form below is just for giving to your BANK.

If you can only afford to withdraw 10 pounds, please do it. If you can afford to withdraw thousands of pounds, do that too. EVERY LITTLE HELPS. Banks cannot withstand everyone withdrawing even a tenth of what they’ve got in the bank. LET’S SEND THESE PARASITES A MESSAGE THEY’LL NEVER FORGET. It’s an open secret that they’re holding the country to ransom. Let’s kick ’em where it hurts.

This is the financial system’s MAJOR WEAK SPOT. That’s why the Dutch government is considering making it illegal to call for a bank run. Because they’re SCARED. In 2009 there was a bank run against a Dutch bank. This was considered to be a particularly unpleasant bank, which had been encouraging millions od Dutch people to get into debt who couldn’t afford it. People did a run against it, and it went bankrupt. How sad.

In Britain, you’d be hard pushed to name a bank which DIDN’T try to get people into massive debt they can’t really afford.

Here’s the bottom line: THE BANKS HAVE GOT IT COMING TO THEM.

So please take part. Spread the news. Distribute this leaflet. Print your own. Just do a little bit to help, and we’ll be strong and we’ll blast the damn banks like they’ve never been blasted before.

Please print the following, complete the details, and hand it to your bank around 1pm on 26 Jan 2011.

i have recently received a letter from DWP saying they will be calling in the next two weeks to confirm my husbands identity in order to send him a questionaire.
I have been dreading this for a long time and dont know how to deal with it really.

My husband does not even speak on the phone to anyone, he has suffered from serious mental illness all his adult life, clinical depression, self harming, anxiety, panic attacks, paranoia, night terrors, insomnia and he also has coronary heart disease (he had his first heart attack age 35, he is now 46. He has to take 13 tablets every day for his heart and depression.

I tried to complete a nursing degree to get us off benefits but my husband had a series of mental breakdowns during this time and found it hard to cope on his own and look after the children, so i had to give it up when i was in second year (having passed all my exams).

Also before he was diagnosed with heart disease in 2001, he worked off and on as a live sound engineer but had to give it up after he was hospitalised after a nervous breakdown during the first gulf war (which he was very worried about).

I just wanted to find out a bit more about what you do and try to support your protests, i came down to woodlands road on 29th september to see if i could speak to some people involved but i didnt get there till 7.45 and no one was there. Me and my husband have been together since 1979 when we were 14 and ever since these benefit changes were announced it has made my husband feel very anixious and worried about the future.

The Labour MP Margaret Hodge, chair of the Commons Public Accounts Committee, who has seen a copy of Ms Verwaerde’s complaint, said it was “horrifying”. Tomorrow she will call on Chris Grayling, the Employment minister, to carry out an “urgent investigation” into the state of A4e’s contracts with the DWP. She will also present him with documentation outlining allegations that she has received from people describing themselves as clients of A4e or previous employees of the firm.

“I have had so many serious concerns and allegations raised with me about what now appears to systemic poor practice and fraud at A4e that I shall be calling on the minister on Monday to undertake a transparent, thorough and urgent investigation,” she said. “When public money is at risk, the common-sense thing is to suspend these contracts until we can all be confident that taxpayers’ money is being properly used.”

‘My view is that this company has demonstrated that it is unfit to hold this kind of contract’.
MP Fiona Mactaggart who sits on the Public Accounts committee 2012

“I have had so many serious concerns and allegations raised with me about what now appears to systemic poor practice and fraud at A4e that I shall be calling on the minister on Monday to undertake a transparent, thorough and urgent investigation,”
MP Margaret Hodge, chair of the Commons Public Accounts Committee 2012

Hi Jonny…wonder if anyone outthere has any info, other than the ‘perfect doctor’ image of Dr Ian Banks. This man heads up a ‘charity’ called mens health forum, and the forum’s ‘shop’ sells his books, published by Haynes like ‘how to change a nappy if you’re a real bloke’……..any enuf sed any help would be most appreciated…!

hi, i’ve been off work since maggie thatcher 1983 with my cancer and depression and bad nerves. this govt. have yet to send for me. i’m on IS with the premium. under dear old gordy it was fairly straightforward ( has atol been in charge all along ?) but the rules of the game have clearly changed. when blair came in they had us on 2 months voluntary work straight away ( i was on the dole back then). i was sent by some private firm in walthamstow to an agency in harringey where they signed my timesheet and left it up to me whether i worked in a charity shop or not. forced volunteering was an oxymoron they said. i feel a bit worried about all this. i like this blog, as it expresses my exact sentiments. if anyone else is in the same boat please email me and i’ll buy them a beer, as i feel a bit on my own with it. ppsmudge@gmail.com

Hello, I am guest editing an issue of a democratic mental health magazine (Asylum) and really like the ‘capitalism it’s not you it’s us’ picture on your blog. Is this your image, if not where did it come from and do you know if it’s copyrighted? please email me at lauriewroe[at]hotmail.com. ta

Ok so if I was firing my gun in the yard for example and then I was to fire off a round and it hits a goat in the head in the nex yard along and the goat dies, am I committing murder or manslaughter, and also what are the chances that the same time I fired possibly someone came passed in a car and shoots the goat in a drive by, and that my shot actually went off and did not hit the goat, or that the goat had a heart attack and dited and it’s not anything to do with the gun, or actually has already dropped to the ground dead before the bullet hits, if I can’t actually get up to the goat and see if there’s a wound in it and if it’s a death-dealing wound if there is, and would it be best to just keep quiet and hide the gun. My neighbour isn’t home

Louise. Thank you, but don’t thank me. This stuff is all on the public record. You just have to dig it out. If you wish (and I hope you do) you can help enormously by sharing these links (and your recommendation) as widely as possible. Thx again. Nigel

I do not even understand how I stopped up right here, however I believed this submit was great. I do not know who you’re however certainly you are going to a well-known blogger if you happen to aren’t already. Cheers!

oh my god(dog backward’s) how dare you, you can’t be that old then if you come out with such evil tripe do you even care about all the people they blew to hell an back your a guttless twat. i know why don’t you join up with your chum’s an blow your self up. most right thinking people hate maggie(i am one of these) but to come out with such shite show’s you to be a complete mong.oh an i have lost someone dear me dearb

Wondered if you guys had seen the new US MItt Romney action figure parody called “MIttformer.” It’s pretty hysterical and already picked by a bunch of US news/blog sites as well as some French. Has the ability to possibly tilt things back to Obama. US bloggers are already using the term “Mittformer” to describe Romney after the debate. Here’s the link:

Keep up the good work Johnny V.
I will leave this here if i may , thank you.

Join with us to appeal for the truth about child abuse to be exposed. No more hiding behind lawyers or celebrity or money or power. We want those responsible for abusing our children brought to justice.
We do not wish for anyone to sink to the depths of law breaking. We do not want anyone to be hurt. We don’t want protests, in the streets or anywhere else.

Aged 78, I am new to blogging. I’m going to find this one extremely useful for facts etc. on the poverty trap and this govt’s plans. You probably won’t take mine seriouslyhttp://www.clivelord.wordpress.com
but you should. We are attacking the same problem from different angles. If the graph on page 88 of the report linked in my blog of 2nd Nov goes viral it could transform the struggle. I’m going to try attaching it to your email address.You are focussed on the trees. I can look at the wood because I’m not trapped in it.

HOW TO WIN AGAINST ATOS :
SEND TO EVERY DISABLED PERSON :
1-ATOS “HEALTHCARE”PLC
is the governments “healthcare provider”
2-SO YOU HAVE THE LEGAL RIGHT-TO “COMPLAIN” ABOUT A HEALTHCARE provider…! 3-TO :
THE GENERAL MEDICAL COUNCIL!!!
4-The GMC, have to, HAVE TO, INVESTIGATE-EVERY COMPLAINT…!!!
5-SO- ONE DISABLED PERSON COMPLAINS
6-WHAT ABOUT 1000, 10,000, 100,000… MILLIONS COMPLAINING!!!
7-ATOS – HAVE A LEGAL DUTY, TO ANSWER EVERY COMPLAINT-EVERY!!! 8-COSTING ATOS MILLIONS OF £££’s
9-TYING UP ATOS SERVICES….!!!
10-FOR YEARS…
PASS IT ON,-WE ALL DO THIS…
*IT’LL BURY ATOS AND DWP, IN CLAIMS COSTING MILLIONS TO PROCESS…
* “THAT’S” HOW TO WIN…
THE CONTRACT – WON’T BE WORTH
DOING (FOR ATOS)…!!!
PASS IT ON – LETS DO THIS
lol John Currigan
AKA THE TIPTON TIGER…

Think Work is Shit? Try Our New Anti Work Campaign Aid! Known as the “Job Centre”, our Bored to Fuck suicide risk, nazi staff are the perfect advertising weapon in your war against work!!!
Sorry couldn’t help that, you did say it was the spam page… in all seriousness love what you’re doing..

I have had my child tax claim made void for a year because although i told income support that my partner was living with me and we had a joint claim and i assumed that the companies were linked! i had just had a baby and two deaths in the family from cancer within the space of a year! I have been told three weeks before xmas that i will be getting no more child tax untill i fill out a new claim which at the moment is taking three weeks to process and four days in from when i called them to get the form sent out and its still not arrived! i was told that debt recovery will be contacting me and i will have to pay back all child tax from 2011 to 2012. The benifit makes you depend on them and then trys to break you. well i would like to start protesting about the behaviour of these people and the pathetic system but i am not greatly educated and am not in the loops as i am pretty shut off, so if people can advise me what i can do i will be gratefull thanks jane

UNIVERSAL JOBMATCH
I have been told that I have to use the Universal Jobsmatch to look for work. I created my first account and was unable to upload a CV so I created a second and third. Same problem each time. And then it occured to me, what everybody, who’s been told to use jobmatch did the same, created a fresh account everytime they do a job search. To keep track of me someone will have to open every account to see my jobsearch. Assuming I give them permission and the right number (my handwritting is so bad these days).
I wondered if this was against the rules and then it dawned on me that I had been told verbaly and not in writing that I had to use the system. Usually the jobcentre tell you everything in writting. I sense a letter of complaint needs to be written.
To everybody who’s been told they have to use jobmatch: How were you told? If it was verbaly then join me in writing those complaint letters.

you might like to know this little gem everybody. while it is true you do have to set up a universal acount you don’t have to use it at all. when you first sign on they will give you some infomation read it all then thay can’t get you i found all this out the hard way they just don’t care about you even if you are dislexic like me they will still punish you (money).

Here is a copy of the letter I have written to my local paper today so feel free to use it to send to anyone you chose.

I hope that people are aware of the new welfare reforms due to come into force in April. Firstly these reforms, when put to the House of Lords, were rejected and recommendations were ignored. This resulted in accusations of ‘abuse of power’ by the House of Lords after the government overturned the House under the guise of ‘financial privilege’.

Over 70 agencies, including those who deal with millions of part time workers, children, cancer patients, the disabled and sick, self employed, the Housing Federation, the National Audit Commission, landlords associations, and more, have all asked that the government take into consideration the consequences for these groups of people and have made certain recommendations, all of which were ignored.

This means that a majority of only 66 MPs have dictated the fate of millions of people and disregarded the well informed advice from those various organisations throughout the UK.

Whilst the media has deemed these people to be ‘scroungers’, research undertaken by the Rowntree Foundation concluded that pensioners get one hundred per cent of needs met, a single mother gets forty per cent and a couple with children, sixty two percent of the minimum needed. Sixty percent of those receiving benefits work part time on low wages and cannot afford to even pay rent. Is this because they are lazy or is this because work is scarce and wages are far too low?

The proposed ‘Bedroom Tax’ will mean that anyone, regardless of needs, will have to pay fourteen percent more rent for one spare bedroom and twenty-five percent for two. Such needs could be for children in shared custody, parents taking up childcare with grandchildren whilst they work, medical needs, or multiple children under 16 of different sex.

The shortage of smaller properties for social housing was one of the points made by the House of Lords as being an unfair tax on those who do not have suitable homes to downsize to.

So who else beside the unemployed and part time workers will be worse off? Everyone!

Those who are in work will still have to pay higher prices. Councils will see a reduced income from housing benefit and will have to borrow from government, forcing council taxes up.

Unemployment will be even higher as local civil servants lose their jobs when government run agencies take over.

The self employed could be out of pocket under the proposed reforms, because losses will not taken into account in full as a deduction from household income.

Children will also suffer, according to Save the Children, as sanctions put on parents who make errors will mean suspended payments for up to three years, therefore starving children. Forcing people with children to take in lodgers could put children at risk by exposing them to people who may cause them harm. The government is obliged by Article 3 of the UN Convention on the rights of the child to ensure the child’s well-being are a primary concern.

According to the Residential Landlords Association, private landlords have already stated to the government that fifty two percent of private tenants would be displaced as the reforms will enforce a limit on the period of time that housing benefit can be received. After such a period, recipients would likely be unable to meet rent payments. Housing benefits will also no longer be paid directly to landlords, meaning tenants will be responsible for ensuring the money is given to the landlords. Many tenants have already asked for this to be reversed, as the direct payment gives them piece of mind that their rent is paid securely. Homelessless would certainly increase.

Forcing people to make their claims online only does not take into account anyone who cannot use a computer or those who cannot read or write. Have we become a nation that thinks those who are not literate should die of starvation?

To those who think creating chaos by changing the system to a new one, which will inevitably collapse under the strain,causing homelessness, poverty and destitution is worth saving £10 Billion a year to taxpayers, you should be aware that £70 Billion in taxes a year goes unpaid by the wealthy.

To put more perspective on what tax payers also pay, projected costs of new aircraft carriers for the Royal Navy is £10 billion, £18.5 billion was paid into the EU last year and a report conducted by Dr Sabir Giga of the University of Bradford last year found that the fallout from workplace bullying cost the economy £13.75 billion last year.

Roughly £100 billion is spent each year dealing with problems relating to promiscuity and relationship breakdowns and so far £420 billion has been spent on war. For a government to cut down the number of available jobs by privatizing industries and allowing unscrupulous corporations to take over, halving the workforce to increase the profits whilst calling those who lose jobs ‘scroungers’ and at the same time giving bankers billions of tax payers money and turning a blind eye to offshore tax havens that that syphon off trillions not billions… I’d say that something is badly wrong!

A peaceful protest will be held in front of the Hastings Town Hall at noon on Saturday the nineteenth. Ann Carey (People Against Welfare Reforms-Facebook)

Hear Hear! However, can I just say… It is ALL done on purpose i.e. the wording, the meaning, the construction etc. These ‘people’ in Goverment aren’t stupid – they know EXACTLY what the outcomes are going to be, without, or before, anyone telling them. They concede, as per any damage limitation exercise, a few amendments as the ‘cost’ of getting the Regulations i.e. their wishes into FORCE. Watching the 3rd, I think, Reading of the Universal Credit Regulations yesterday, one could quite clearly see the Government fobbing off (between scores of “um”s) the Lords and Ladies and their various proposed amendments. How, you would be perfectly reasonable in asking, do these ‘Laws’ get passed in the face of so much opposition – I wonder myself. The answer possibly lies somewhere within the realms of a convincing Chewbacca Argument (which I nowadays call a Vicky Pollard Argument i.e. yes but, no but…) whereby even the ‘intelligent’ of society fall for confabulation – it seems to be a human flaw that cannot be overcome, even by the Lords and Ladies (unless, of course, that is all part of the ‘show’ i.e. to make us THINK that they are on our side). The real question to be asking is, “WHY do they (the ‘Govenment’) WANT all of the ensuing chaos that will no doubt occur?”. ‘Society’ is being deliberately steered into chaos. But why? See what YOU come up with, for an answer. The Policy is to “get people off benefits”, not to “get people into work”; one cannot ‘fit’ 2.5 million officially unemployed (which is a deflated figure) into 0.5 million vacancies (which is an inflated figure – and consists primarily of ‘transitional’ vacancies between those who are already employed) – meaning that the economy is essentially in ‘full’ employment or running at 100% Capacity already. The Principles of Modern Economics are: Privatise Profits, Socialise Losses. These HUGE costs to the ‘economy’ are not costs to the ‘economy’ – they are costs to the Taxpayers… and this ‘money’ doesn’t get ‘lost’ – it goes to someone i.e. a Person (N.B. A Person and A Corporation are the same thing). The Bill is ALWAYS picked up by the Taxpayers. More Bills equals more Costs which equals more Invoices to the Taxpayers. It’s all a clever way of selling you more Services that you don’t (really) NEED – exactly in the same way as you are sold (built-in) rechargeable batteries for your new shaver at four times the price of buying separate rechargeable batteries. You are ‘FORCED’ to buy the ‘built-in’ ones at the extortionate price because you can’t, by deliberate ACT, buy the same fancy shaver with an empty compartment in it for putting in your own MUCH CHEAPER batteries (which you could also use in other devices). It’s all about getting as much of your wages back from you (in the form of Taxes) as possible, to the point that you are ‘working for free’ or supplying your labour for a bowl of rice at the end of the day – which, as you may have guessed, technically makes you a Slave. I shall leave you all with Murphy’s Golden Rule: The Man (should really be Men & Women) With The Gold Makes The Rules. Simples, tch!

Hi, I received a letter today which says @we would like to invite you to attend an interview to discuss your award for Jobseekers allowance’ I have been receiving this since March 2012. Does anybody know what this is I am really worried becuase it is signed by a Customer Compliance Officer. Thanks any advice greatly appreciated

I am in a mess! i have been told that because i did not make one phone call to inform child tax that my partner was living with me although i did have a joint claim with him for income support and belived they was linked and i had just had a baby and two family deaths from cancer, also the money i was receiving from child tax would not have changed even if i had of called them! they are telling me because i did not make this one pointless call i now have to pay back tweenty three thousand pounds! been cab and they was of vlittle help, dont feel mentally strong enough to challenge! DONT NO WHAT TO DO! PLEASE HELP!

I reside in Bradford and I have been challenging the UBO, DHSS, JC, JCP, Council et al at various times over the last 30 years. I have won ALL of my legal challenges against bad/illegal decisions by these entities, including a case which went all of the way to the Social Security Commissioners years ago. I am currently, and have been for some time, at loggerheads with the JCP and Ingeus over these same ESE Regulations involved in the recent Court Case. I am very knowledgeable about Contract Law, Employment Law and Benefit Law (perhaps less than your good self) (as well as other subjects, such as the power of Notices, lawful excuse etc) to the extent that JC DMs, who had lost Tribunals against me, used to ask ME, when I was attending to sign-on, to explain various Regulations to them (i.e. they hadn’t, as now, had a clue about much – most of them, by their own admission, have NEVER read the JSA95 never mind anything else). On Tuesday, I would have been in many JCP and Ingeus members of staff heads whereby they would have been thinking, “Fudge, Mr R was right… He said that the WP was illegal!”. Today, they will definitely be awaiting my arrival when I shortly go down to sign-on. However, I am not pompous and I take little comfort from this small victory by the two people and the PIL – it is all going to get much worse under UC (if you took the opportunity to watch yesterday’s reading in the Lords of the new UC Regs). Anyway, I read the new 2011 Regulations, at the time, and came to my own conclusion (i.e. WITHOUT taking note of anyone else’s opinion, and possibly before there was any public opinion about the new regulations) that the Work Programme, at least was illegal i.e. it didn’t conform to the JSA95 specification or “construction” i.e. ‘structure’ (to keep it simple). As for ‘structure’, I would like to share a Universal Concept/Law that my Master’s Degree Biology Teacher told me one day i.e Structure = Function. This Law is, in my learned opinion (IMLO), as important (if not more) as E=MC2 (squared). The point of this posting (with a ‘little’ of my background) is to point out that the PIL lost a number of opportunities in this court case i.e. they only won a ruling on the STRUCTURE of the legislation, NOT on its FUNCTION (or intent). So, as you know, they are simply going to re-word the Structure and continue as normal. The key issue with the ESE Regs and the JSA95 is that, even IF/WHEN the structure is ‘correct’ the Scheme still has to (I quote) be ” … DESIGNED to assist the unemployed to obtain employment… ” i.e. its Function HAS to perform i.e. it has to be (as in a toaster under the sale of goods act) “fit for purpose”. In this respect, the quashed Regs (including possibly the new amended ones) and CERTAINLY Ingeus are NOT FIT FOR PURPOSE. This, IMLO, is your ‘best’ challenge against Ingeus, G4S et al – especially if there are numerous breaches of contract committed by the Provider. Learn some contract law, learn how to write Notices, withdraw consent to use your data, fire the Provider, go back to JCP and the Act/Regs and force JCP to provide that which is required by Law – in particular under the Contract you have with JCP/DWP. Of course, they will probably stop your benefits but then there is also Magna Carta and the Bill of Rights and the ECHR and the HRA to fall back on – there is probably no other way, I am afraid. It IS a fight. One final point: Contract Law may no longer apply under UC i.e. they are changing the word ‘Agreement’ to ‘Committment’. One Lord spotted this important change himself. I leave you to ponder. Good Luck!

Check out our new blog: Charitywatch UK: http://charitywatchuk.wordpress.com. We research unethical charities. We’ve begun by looking at those charities who exploit the weak and the vulnerable through the use of the workfare programmes.

It won’t be a surprise that first up is the Conservation Volunteers. You may be surprised to learn they have earned £19 million pounds from the scheme. Also, they have some very famous Vice-Presidents but you won’t be surprised to learn one of their trustees is on the board of A4e.

We hope you will find the report adds useful information in the campaign to end workfare.

If you want to ‘understand’ tory policy then you have to ask ‘who profits from all this?’
Here’s some examples –
The contract to provide healthcare to the UK’s prisons was awarded to a company who had donated hundreds of thousands of pounds to the Tory party, despite lower bids
Several private healthcare companies who made large donations to the Tories got to sit on the committee that drafted the NHS Reform Bill, thus ensuring that your local GP’s practice can now be taken over by a private health company
The Trussel Trust who run a lot of the food banks are Tory party donors

So, what are the motives for the ‘benefit reforms’ bedroom tax, workfare, removal of legal aid to appeal benefits decisions, abolition of the Human Rights Act etc

Well, workfare is obviously to provide cheap labour to private companies, but what about the rest of it?
Given the Tories desire to privatise every government service they can, in exchange for large donations to party coffers, the obvious motive is to provide cheap labour for private companies – make everyone so desperate that they’ll work for next to nothing just to keep a roof over their heads.

Also, the probation service is now largely in private hands and since they will be paid by the number of clients they deal with, then it becomes desireable to have more criminals. It’s also more than likely that our prisons will also be privatised and as we’ve seen with America, the prison population is a large, unpaid workforce waiting to be exploited.

So, in creating a situation that will lead to food riots and civil unrest and in view of the harsh sentences handed down to the last lot of rioters, we have a scenario where more people end up criminalised in order to increase profits for private companies who happen to be Tory party donors.
More riots would also give them an excuse to introduce more surveillance, reductions in civil liberties, martial law etc = more jobs for private companies monitoring our lives, more dissenters rounded up and fed into the prison workforce.

All this may sound far fetched and paranoid and I hope it is, but far worse things have been done in order to further the profits of multinational companies and given the spead of neoliberalism as a dominant political agenda, it’s not impossible that we’re all being sold into slavery – after all, the only way to compete with Chinese sweatshops is to have our own sweatshops

how the hell can u say the riot sentences were harsh not one of them looked like they were poor with nice new trainers on some even said they did it for a joke most did not even live in these areas whenever has rioting ever helped the people in these poor locations, shops that belong to people who live in the area cant aford to start up again or even want to, lots of people lost ther homes to these scum over what some mong(or as his chums called him a soldier as we all must know this means he was a little shit )getting killed by cops for haveing a gun an even if he was a nice boy an they killed him for no good reason at all how does rioting ever help anyone. look to the usa at the riots in the 60’s most cars local people most shops local so the fact it helps distroy the area is a good thing u think !

The government appears to have a secret plan to reassess disability living allowance (DLA) claimants who have “indefinite” awards, in a bid to sidestep delays to implementation of its benefit reforms.

Three disabled people, who all work or volunteer as welfare advisers in different parts of the country, have described to Disability News Service (DNS) what they say is a suspicious trend being seen among long-term DLA claimants.

All three say the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) seems to be trying to cut the number of people on indefinite awards by reassessing them for DLA, while at the same time promising that no-one with a lifetime or indefinite award will be reassessed for the new personal independence payment (PIP) – the replacement for working-age DLA – until 2015.

Only last December, Esther McVey, the Conservative minister for disabled people, announced – following concerted campaigning by disability organisations – that those with lifetime or indefinite DLA awards would not be reassessed for PIP until October 2015 at the earliest, six months after the next general election.

But by reassessing claimants using existing DLA rules instead of PIP, the government can sidestep its own announcement.

A disabled activist, who tweets as Blueannoyed and volunteers on various disability-related internet forums, has spoken to DNS about her concerns, after dealing with at least five disabled people with indefinite DLA awards.

All five – including two from Wales, one from Swindon and one from Northumberland – have been told by DWP that they will need to be reassessed for DLA.

“Blueannoyed” said she had not previously heard of anyone with an indefinite award being reassessed during her three years on the forums.

She said: “I think there has been a dramatic shift. They are saying 2015 to the public but I think they are trying to shift the goalposts.”

Mick Dillon, chief executive of the Disability Resource Centre, in Bedfordshire, was another to raise the same concerns.

He said there had been a “very tangible shift” in the number of disabled people with indefinite or lifetime awards being reassessed. He said he was now expecting to be called in for a reassessment of his own indefinite DLA award.

Dillon said: “Our chair sits on the disability appeals panel, which is held in our building in Dunstable. She has been seeing, for quite a few months, people with lifetime awards being called in.”

Another advice centre, Buckinghamshire Disability Service (BuDS), has seen a recent surge in disabled people with indefinite DLA awards being called in for reassessments.

Andrew Clark, chair of BuDS, said: “A number of people have said that they are being invited to go for a reassessment of their DLA because of a change of circumstances, but they have not actually reported any change of circumstance. They all had indefinite awards.”

He said he feared DWP was carrying out a “covert rolling programme of reassessments”.

A DWP spokesman said: “Awards of DLA, whether made for life, indefinitely, or for a fixed period, are made on the basis that the entitlement conditions continue to be met.

“An indefinite or life award would not generally be reviewed unless there is a change in circumstances that affects the entitlement.

“This would include a change reported by the claimant, as they are required to do to ensure they receive the correct amount of benefit, or through another source such as fraud referral.

“There are no plans to reassess people for PIP earlier than the timeline already set out by the government.”

don’t my disablety is dislexa the person that i sign on with told me i should go to my doctors and get on the sick(dislexa) as then i would’nt have to look for work like every one else has too. they don’t want to help anyone,the amount of times i’ve had to re-sign is beyond belive i got a part-time job over xmas when it ended the dole did not belive that i was not still working.the amount of bulling i had drove me nut’s from the woman who i was under at the time,so much so that i wanted to burn the woman,she would state that they knew i was working more than 15 hour’s a week as well as every little trick like ending an interview because i did’nt remember my phone number(dislexa) i told em it was on my c.v which was on there system,so i would have to go an make a new claim every now an then which look’s good for them less people on the book’s. my local mp(a twat) david lammy dureing our meetin did not look at me once an when he whrote back he said the dole had done everything for me whice i’m sure you know these people lie an hide behind rule’s which mean whatever thet like(i also worked for laddbrocks who did the same as well as cheat us the people out of 25 million a year when they moved there on-line stuff to gerberta just of off spain) and then after month’s of this when i got back on the dole an they gave me someone new she told me it was not just me but that the manager’s told every one to get people to sign off any way possible which is nice.

“We find two great gangs of political speculators, who alternately take possession of the state power and exploit it by the most corrupt ends — the nation is powerless against these two great cartels of politicians who are ostensibly its servants, but in reality dominate and plunder it.”
Friedrich Engels

Anyone who is interested might want to take a look at the Universal Credit Calculator at this link –http://policyinpractice.co.uk/universal-credit/universal-credit-calculator/#
If you play around with it you soon discover that disability payments are being means tested. Can’t remember when that law was passed, maybe I blinked or something. Put up a comment about it and it quickly got ‘moderated’ off the site!

Hello,
Can’t seem to find an e-mail address for you so I’m trying my luck with posting a comment. This is just to let you know that we’ve moved the Thurrock Heckler to a new host – here’s the link: http://thurrockheckler.wordpress.com/
If you could update the link on this blog when you get a chance, it would be appreciated.
Dave
Thurrock Heckler

There seems to be a growing forum subject that needs urgent investigation if you could please! The Work Programme is nearing its two years as of next month and many ‘clients’ will be leaving to return to the JCP. Little is known of what will happen to the returnees. Someone has said they attended a meeting along with other WP clients form differing WPP’s at their local JCP- to be told by a low ranking clerk they would be doing 30 hours volunteering and 10 hours jobs club, with the possiblity of daily/weekly siging! Then on the other hand an undercover DWP worker is waiting for the next meeting regarding the post work programme. How can one JCP be so called fully informed and another internal DWP staffer be awaiting an information meeting???? Doesn’t seem right to me…

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Great postings keep up the goodness of it my friend, however what you also need to include is the hypocrisy of the “labor hypocrites”. As they were the party that suggested these cut backs the tory w~~~~~rs instigated it. Therefore as they say two wrongs never make a right. f… the political parities of this country.

Treated like shit from the moment I walked into the (joke)job center thrown a piece of paper with website addresses on by G4S told to apply online , asked how told your making the claim you should know how . Due to my own stupidity of never using or owning one I asked how and was told it’s not our problem by the G4S guy , thanks to a member of the public in the Que I was told that the local library may be able too help . ….more tomorrow ..

Mandatory ESA participants – All mandatory ESA participants (regardless of whether they have opted for early entry) can be required to undertake work-related activity that is reasonable in their circumstances. You can support ESA participants to apply for and take up work, but you may not mandate these participants to apply for jobs, undertake medical treatment, take up work or unpaid work experience.

Of course, no mandates doesn’t necessarily mean no starvation through sanctions, but I found it enlightening all the same.

We’ve read all your comments and spoken to some of you. We want to say thank you to Robin who called and explained to us the issues surrounding workfare. From tomorrow, we will have no further involvement ever with this scheme. We had the best of intentions, both of us started this company as a result of a similar scheme back in 2002. Clearly we were wrong to get involved with workfare.

As a person that works on the mwa scheme I can see really good and really bad!

Good 90% lazy people get sanctioned and so they should when they are capable of work but won’t

Bad 10% get sanctioned for not being able or sadly not having a place in this society.

Good – basics of having something to live for. Men and women depressed because they can’t find a job. The work placements really do make people smile build confidence feel like they are helping their community.

What you guys do is stop people from getting potential jobs from private businesses – shame on you

Good 10% lazy people get sanctioned and so they should when they are capable of work but won’t

Bad 90% get sanctioned for not being able or sadly not having a place in this society.

Good – basics of having something to live for through the social safety net working as it should.

Bad Men and women depressed because they’re guaranteed only an interview at the end of a Workfare scheme, not an actual job. The work placements really do not make people smile, build confidence, and feel like they are helping their community.

What the DWP does is stop people from getting real jobs from private businesses – shame on them.

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Not entirely sure if you will get this comment or even use this section of your blog much but I’m letting you no that i’ve sent you an email and it would be brilliant if you could get in touch and give me some more insight in to your views and opinions!

Really enjoyed some of your posts! very informative and educational. I’d love to pick your brain!

and requested they answer a number of questions concerning how they calculated the overpayment.

I had obtained the questions from an article written by a benefit expert who has accused and has evidence that the DWP do not make the correct
calculations and that people are being prosecuted on incorrect figures.

the DWP never replied !

I had already paid them the money back but I know for a fact that the amount they said I owed was incorrect but trying to avoid prosecution
I paid them the money.

some 6 months later they decided to prosecute me.

I then wrote to them again with the same letter asking for a break down of the calculations they made about the overpayment amount

this is relevant as it is vital in their decision to prosecute or not
and in the sentencing guidelines the court use.

the DWP did not reply to the second letter!!

they also closed my income support claim as I have ill health I am entitle to this support.

they did not send me to ATOS but arbitrarily closed my claim based on the alleged overpayment which they have not justified with a break down of how they calculated the amount.

the court took the word of the DWP for the amount of overpayment they didn’t give a fuck !
they did not care if it was correct or not!!

the courts work hand in hand with DWP !!

After the court case the DWP sent me an ESA claim form I filled it in and returned it.

DWP then wrote to me and told me that they had sent the ESA form to me by mistake !!

so I cannot claim ESA I do not get Income support NO free prescriptions !!!

you DO NOT live in a just society.

I call for a commission of inquiry to investigate and take evidence from victims of DWP abuse so we may have some chance of receiving justice and our money back that was taken illegally or more correctly STOLEN from us all who have been treated is such a criminal manner by this government and DWP.

will you support me ?

if we do not receive justice in this country then the logical conclusion is that the abused and disaffected people will take to the streets out of anger and frustration. That’s how revolutions start !!

I just read your article on ‘you can’t make a profit having children’ and think its complete rubbish what you have written as well as VERY out of touch of you.
To say that young teenagers aren’t having kids for a house and an easy life is completely deluded.
You honestly try to tell me that single mothers don’t want to go to work and have more children?
Please get with it. The Tories have it spot on. If we tightened the budget on that we would have more money and could spend on more important things!

hi,
im on esa- Long term illness,but want to get back to work- qualified in gas and air- con, but when i asked a4e to pay for exam to get working in one of them, was offered fork lift, bouncer or burger shop training!!!
i could be earning 40k easily,if i renewed my qualifications-they need 40/60 million meters to be fitted by 2020- can you tell me how much it costs to keep the average guy on the dole,including housing,admin
etc… i was told it was about the 26 mark??? i would be taking none of this, AND paying tax n NI , as well as taking on staff- i have taken 4 renewable qualifications,so would also be saving the planet-.camnot believe a4e.will get 13k for ME finding myself work- have told them i will be stealing aircon units from outside govt offices to pay for me to get back my gas safe n aircon qualifications- its win- win- if i get caught,can get training as an offemder !!?
i want to shame my mp- afriye,windsor- makes big noises about helping people be entrepreneurs- my £3000 training would be saved multiplied by ten,in a year,then probably three times that in tax n NI, then staff taken off dole,then add to GDP…
what tory can argue with those figures???
look forward to you tellling me the aberage cost of a guy on tje dole- will be using media to get this bullshit known….
regards
ps- electrician at Mars,slough- offered 3-5 vacancies A WEEK- a4e wont pay for driving lessons- he was onsite since leaving school- even offered to do as a loan- seeing as they could make a small fortune on him working(he is also long term mh esa) ,its obvious that they cannot use a calculator….

Trying to find out if legally by the so called rules whatever can i be forced to search for work on Universal Credit when im signed off as sick and have provided sick notes???. Can i be sanctioned if i dont look for work when im sick?. My assessment is coming up soon when i send the forms back i have for Limited Work capability. Thanks

I’m spreading news that Birmingham City Council are going to cut Local Welfare Provision Payments in 2016. It’s basically two hugely important emergency grants that go to the most vulnerable in society in order to help them in their desperate situation.

Does anybody have or know where i can get a screen shot or page that i can print off displaying the universal job match fault “email client not properly installed” this happens when i was trying to apply for jobs with my skills and i got sanctioned for not applying for enough jobs at this time but how could i apply for jobs with this continuous fault stopping me applying for jobs

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I have just been for a assessment in crewe.i went along with my daughter. They askedbme to attend at 9am. But the night before they left a voice message to say they had over booked appointments for that day so the time had to be changed to 8 45 am. We arrived at 8 40. But we were called into the assessment room at 9. 10. & i know of of people who have had the same call with the same excuse from atos. Its to see if you can cope with change i have been informed. It asks on the form can you walk betweeb 20 & 50 meters. I wrote on a good day may be 20 meters. Witch i will come back to. After 1 hour of being in the hard assessment chair. The so called heath proffessional.but there is one last fisicle assessmant but i can see you are in some discomfort so i wilm leave that one.but i will make a note of it. When i got my decistion from the dwp i got refused the mobility part of my pip assessment. It stated that from the chair in the waitingroom to the assessment room was more than 20 meters.i noticed i did not stop to rest.eventhough i had my walking stick. Also i refused the last part of the assessment fom my musculoskeletal desease. This was a total lie as i did not refuse this assessment as stated above. This is only one of the many things i have. But i wrote & made a complaint to atos. & had a letter back saying as there was no onther atos member present they can not comment any further. In other words it is my word agains theres. But i had my daughter in the assessment toom at the time. I rang the dwp & informed them of my concerns. I also told them that a 20 meter walk is on a good day.. so they asked if i wanted a mandatory reconsideration.yes i replied. Some weeks later they upheld otos assessment. So now i am going to appeal & i wrote back to atos i informed them that i am not happy in re to there responce..& that i had my daughter with me on the day as a witness. There responce is that they will now carry out a investigation but i no its not going to go anywhere.

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